Friday, August 20, 2010

We're half-way through the first quarter!

The second group of 88 SAT words went out today. The work will be due on September 10th. Study hard for the vocabulary test because MANY of you didn't do a very good job of studying for the first test!

Our contact list for periods 1 & 3 went out today, too. Keep your list in a safe place ... and use it if you miss a class or if you want to develop study groups. Remember that AP English Language and Composition is a college-level class: study groups and contact lists are everyday things.

If you're shopping this weekend, keep on the look out for copies of The Scarlet Letter and Huckleberry Finn. The Scarlet Letter ... plus double-entry journals ... will be your fall intersession project. We'll start reading Huckleberry Finn the first week we come back from our vacation.

Monday, August 16, 2010

SAT spelling list #1: It's test time!

SAT spelling test #1 will be on Friday. Of the list of eighty-eight words, twenty will be on the test. You'll need to know them all ... just in case! Be ready with spelling, definition, and an original sentence demonstrating your knowledge of each word!
Miss Jepsen

Open House is this THURSDAY!

Please remind your parents/guardians that Open House is this Thursday and that classroom visitations begin at 6:00 PM. I'd love to meet them, so please bring your parents/guardians!
Miss Jepsen

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Journal quotation ... Henry David Thoreau

"Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something." -- Henry David Thoreau

Weeks 3 - 5: Let's improve our vocabulary!

This is our first week of words. Interestingly, nearly every one applies to Into the Wild. We'll be working on these words for three weeks with a test on them on August 20, 2010. You must know each spelling, definition, and part-of-speech (to include having the ability to use each in its varying forms). I shall expect that you'll use each ACCURATELY in an original sentence. Your work from this first batch will include the words, definitions, derivations, part(s)-of-speech, and one original sentence for EACH. The assignment is due 8/20/2010.

I shall reserve the right to "revisit" words at whim.

If you don't already have one, I'll expect you to secure a collegiate dictionary to use at home as a reference. A computer dictionary source may NOT be as accurate as you'll need to understand a word's usage. Thrift stores are excellent sources for used dictionaries ... Merriam-Webster, Funk and Wagnall's, and Longman's are typically excellent.



SAT Vocabulary List


Words from Official SAT Study Guide Test 1

Accolade---praise
Allusion----indirect reference
Ambivalence---uncertainty; having 'mixed' feelings
Ambivalent---unable to decide
Analogy----comparison
Anecdote---short account of something interesting; story
Anomalous---odd; not fitting the pattern
Apparition---ghost; something that 'appears'
Aspersion---negative feeling; damaging remark
Belligerence---aggression
Bombastic---too elaborate; exaggerated
Candid----truthful
Capricious---changeable; fickle
Cherished---cared for; firmly-held
Cliché----over-used expression
Conception---1. idea; view. 2. beginning of pregnancy
Convoluted---complicated or long-winded
Credence---belief
Cryptic----hidden
Currency---1. widespread acceptance, 2. money
Decorous---good and correct (used of behavior)
Denunciation----act of speaking out against
Derailed----thrown off course
Derivative---unoriginal
Despotic----acting like a tyrant
Detritus----rubbish
Diaphanous---very thin and transparent
Dictum----often-used saying
Dilettante---person who dabbles in the arts
Disdained---showed contempt for
Dispassionate---unbiased; fair
Dowager---an elderly woman of elevate social status
Dubious---doubtful
Egalitarian---equal; believer in equality
Elicit---draw out (used mainly for information or feelings)
Elliptical---1. shaped like an ellipse, 2. indirect
Epitomizes---acts as a typical example of
Equivocate---speak ambiguously/vaguely
Evasiveness---trying to avoid something
Explicitly---very clear; nothing hidden
Foraging---searching for food
Hypothetical---based on guesswork; not proven
Iconoclast---person who goes against accepted authority
Idiosyncratic---quirky; unique to an individual
Imponderable---cannot be understood
Indecorous---not well-behaved; lacking in dignity
Indigence---extreme poverty
Inept---clumsy
Inherent---inbuilt; genetic
Intricate---complicated
Irrefutable---cannot be proved wrong
Jingoism---using words to stir up exaggerated patriotism
Jubilant---joyful
Judicious---fair and equal
Lament---express regret over something
Loquacious---talkative; using too many words
Mendicancy---begging
Metaphorical---not literal; figurative
Milieu---environment; surroundings
Mitigated---made less severe
Nascent ---just begun; in an early stage of development
Nostalgia---longing for the past
Obtrusive---easily seen
Orthographical---concerned with writing and spelling
Ossified---become fixed and rigid
Ostentatious---showy
Palpable---can be felt
Pastoral---1. concerned with the countryside, 2. concerned with the care a pastor gives to someone
Pedestrian---1. boring (adj), 2. person who walks (n)
Perfidy---treachery; betrayal
Profligacy---wasteful and immoral behavior
Prohibitive---very expensive
Prudence---wisdom; caution
Pugnacious---aggressive
Purveyor---one who sells something or causes something to spread
Resonance---echo
Respite---break (from work etc.)
Resurgence---revival
Sparse---thin; not thick
Stringent---strict
Succumbing---giving in to; falling under the influence of
Supercilious---arrogant
Tenacity---firmness of purpose
Transcend---go beyond a limit
Variegated---multicolored
Venerable---worthy of respect
Viable---workable; able to live or grow
Visceral---concerned with the 'guts'; physical rather than mental